Abstract
This article raises the important question regarding the legal status of the NCAA as a “state actor” which would subject it to constitutional due process requirements. The article is written within the context of two important cases: Tarkanian and Brentwood Academy. The authors take the position that the dissenting judges in Tarkanian and the majority in Brentwood essentially “got it right” and they provide an analogy to settled Supreme Court precedents that will provide the Supreme Court with a path to bring the NCAA under the aegis of the constitution—at least as far as providing members institutions, athletic administrative personnel, and athletes a modicum of due process protections.
Highlights
The National Collegiate Athletic Association or NCAA is a voluntary association of public and private colleges and universities that establishes competition and other rules for its members relating to intercollegiate sports
This article raises the important question regarding the legal status of the NCAA as a “state actor” which would subject it to constitutional due process requirements
The Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA's participation in the events that led to Tarkanian's suspension by University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) did not constitute "state action" prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment, and was not performed "under color of law" within the meaning of Section 1983
Summary
The National Collegiate Athletic Association or NCAA is a voluntary association of public and private colleges and universities that establishes competition and other rules (e.g., on recruitment, amateurism) for its members relating to intercollegiate sports. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was concerned over the increasing number of football-related injuries and deaths, summoned college athletics leaders to a conference at the White House at the turn of the century to discuss reforms. On December 28, 1905, sixty-two schools met in New York City and founded the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States as a discussion group and rule-making body. Five years later in 1910, the IAAUS changed its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.” Two United States Supreme Court cases, National Collegiate Athletic Association v. A brief summary of these cases is offered here to provide the proper context to the discussion
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